Lawmakers late Thursday introduced a long-awaited bill of proposed regulations for recreational marijuana, moving Colorado one step closer to a legal pot marketplace.

The 57-page bill contains most of the ideas endorsed by a special legislative committee for how recreational marijuana businesses should operate and be structured. A second bill, also introduced late Thursday, lays out a proposed tax structure for marijuana that voters would be asked to approve.

Both bills must be passed in the state House and Senate — requiring a minimum of six different votes — by May 8, the end of the legislative session. If they are not, it is likely lawmakers would consider a special session this spring to try again, since this is the only opportunity the legislature has to weigh in on marijuana regulations before pot stores open around the beginning of 2014.

The main regulation bill — House Bill 1317 — is sponsored by Democratic Rep. Dan Pabon, of Denver, and codifies how marijuana stores are to operate and be governed. Among the bill's major points:

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• Marijuana growers and sellers could operate separately, opposite of the requirements for medical-marijuana dispensaries.

• Only Colorado residents could own or work in recreational marijuana shops.

• Marijuana stores could only sell ¼ of an ounce of pot at a time to people from out-of-state.

• Owners of medical-marijuana dispensaries would have a three-month window starting in October where only they would be allowed to apply for recreational pot shop licenses.

• The agency that currently oversees medical-marijuana dispensaries, the Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division, would become the Marijuana Enforcement Division and oversee all marijuana businesses.

The bill on marijuana taxes, House Bill 1318, is sponsored by Democratic Rep. Jonathan Singer, of Longmont. It creates a 15 percent special sales tax on recreational marijuana and a 15 percent excise tax on pot transfers between growers and sellers. Voters would have to sign off both taxes in November before they would go into effect.

The bills have been assigned to different committees — HB 1317 to the House State Affairs committee and HB 1318 to the House Finance committee. The most recent House calendar does not show when the bills' first hearings will be.

John Ingold: 303-954-1068, jingold@denverpost.com or twitter.com/john_ingold